257 Weatherby Brass Life? with pictures!

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rmkm70

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i am looking for some experiensed input on how many shots i should expect out of Weatherby brass. i am using formed winchester 7mm rem mag brass now and after the 4 th time loaded i cut one open to check for seperation. as you can see from the pictures, i wrecked a good piece of brass. i was always under the impression that 4 shots from belted brass was it.

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The advent of case head separation doesnt have much to do with being a belted magnum round or not

The reason that you dont have the case head separation is your headspace is is tight ( chamber relative to sized case ). This will have the biggest effect on case head separation

A belted magnum headspace on the belt ( generally will if you full length resize ) it will eventually thin out above the belt. Even though its headspaced at the belt, if you have a loose chamber relative to the sized case , case will stretch and eventually thin out above the belt.

Non belteds will also separate just above the case head. Reason for this is the firing pin will push the cartridge up until it stops at the chamber (or in the case of belted magnum, on the belt ) . As round goes off, case head moves back towards bolt face to "fill up " the champer. It does this by stretching( looser your chamber is relative to the sized case the worst this is ).

This repeated stretching resizing smaller, stretching resizing etc is what works the brass. Case head separation or separation at the

They key is if you have a min size chamber ( case doesnt stretch too much upon each firing ) or better yet you neck size only. When you neck size only, case headspaces on shoulder not the belt ( belt doesnt then do anything )

I load for 3 different 257Wby rifles. I have some Norma / Wby brass that has lasted over 6 loads and they show no signs of casehead separation ( I milled one in half as you did ) . What has happened though is the primer pockets are significantly looser . WBT This is why I like hand priming for these cartridges because you can feel how loose the primer pocket is as you seat the primer

One of the 3 rifles was chambered a bit loose. In that rifle, the cases thined above the belt after 3 loads. Since we went to neck sizing on that rifle no problems

I prefer to neck size. You need to make sure you keep track of which brass came from which rifle ( easy if you only have one rifle in that particular caliber ). I always run my hunting loads through the rifle to make sure its not too tight after neck sizing. Once my brass starts getting hard to chamber when only necksizing, I then use a Redding "body die" to bump the shoulder back.

Altering case to chamber headspace

You can back off your sizing die so brass headspaces on the shoulder but its hard to be repeatable with this method ( if you are loading for more than one rifle )

Redding makes these handy shellholders that ar +2 , 4 , 6 ,8 and 10 thou on the headspace. Just use the largest and work back until brass chambers easy and you have perfect fit
 
trg-42 has some good points. I personally like my hunting rifles to cycle fast and smooth, so I will full length size for hunting. shooting paper is a different story. If you are loading hot for performance, your brass will show it after as few as 1 or 2 loads (loose primer pockets). If you reduce those loads your brass will last a long time. If you have a race car, you may as well drive it. I pushed my 7mm STW to the max and had to reduce my loads by one or two grains of powder to get acceptable brass life.
 
i'm pushing the brass pretty hard. i have 2 good loads so far: 100gr hornady SP @ 3595fps and 100gr TSX @ 3670fps.

any comments from anyone who has compared accuracy results between formed brass and factory weatherby/norma brass would be appreciated.

i'm going to try neck size some to see if it improves accuracy. i don't really care about tight fitting shells, i only use 1 anyway.

great info from TRG.
 
Stretched cases

TRG gave the best, well worded, information you will ever see on these threads, regarding the stretching of brass on shooting. How the firing pin pushes the cartridge forward to whatever it seats on, then the pressure holding the front of the cartridge there while the base is driven back, is so true.
Enlarging the primer pocket is the ultimate, sure sign, of an overloaded cartridge. If you can get the bolt open after a primer blows out, be sure you are working over a clear area, because there will be pieces, such as an extractor, plus little pins and things, coming out seperate of the bolt!
 
rmkm70 said:
i'm pushing the brass pretty hard. i have 2 good loads so far: 100gr hornady SP @ 3595fps and 100gr TSX @ 3670fps.

any comments from anyone who has compared accuracy results between formed brass and factory weatherby/norma brass would be appreciated.

i'm going to try neck size some to see if it improves accuracy. i don't really care about tight fitting shells, i only use 1 anyway.

great info from TRG.
Click to expand...

What powder are you using with the TSX? Are you sticking to 3.250 OAL?
 
My TSX test loads were RL-22 and H1000. i tried some at 3.350 and the last 2 batches were 3.250. the shorter rounds were more accurate. i had the best accuracy closer to max load, but that was only 1.3" groups. the hornady's shoot .7"
 
rmkm70 said:
My TSX test loads were RL-22 and H1000. i tried some at 3.350 and the last 2 batches were 3.250. the shorter rounds were more accurate. i had the best accuracy closer to max load, but that was only 1.3" groups. the hornady's shoot .7"
Click to expand...

Do you find RL22 the best, or prefer H1000? I have tried RL25 and 7828SSC in my .257Wby.
 
RL-22 gives outstanding velocity with the TSX bullet, i have not tested it with the hornady yet. i got good velocity with partitions as well, accuracy is unacceptable though with both powders.

H1000 would barely crack 3500 with a max load using TSX and accuracy was not as good as RL-22. BUT, the hornady load in 2 grains below max and is still 3575fps.

i was thinking of trying some 4831 next. i was thinking of 7828 also but its pretty close to RL-22 i think.
 
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